I woke up bright and early on Friday to set off for Satoland (the family fun area of the festival!) I thought I was so clever planning my trip when all the kids would be at school… what I didn’t realise is that every single school in Hokkaido would plan school trips there! So I had lots of kids coming up to me, keen to practise their English! (“I like cake, I like chocolate, I like ice cream…”) To start off with, I went down a really long snow slide whilst sitting in a rubber ring… a lot of fun! Then, [View Full Entry]

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on thursday, i jetted off to hokkaido (northern japan) to see the world famous snow and ice festival known as yuki matsuri... the train journey to my hotel was incredible... i was so excited to leave the airport tunnel and see outside and when i finally saw the view, it didn't disappoint... the sky was bright blue and the snow was beautifully white and sparkly... and there was so much of it! i've never seen so much snow in my life! by the time i arrived at my hotel it was late in the afternoon but i literally just dropped my [View Full Entry]

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I decided to be a tourist on Saturday as I sometimes feel like I’ve not been exploring as many new places recently! So I took the train to Kashima and made my way to Hitoku Inari shrine… the third largest of its kind in Japan. I got even more looks than I normally get in Saga and lots of people walked past me commenting loudly about a “gaijin” (foreigner) being there! The shrine was beautiful and I had a lovely stroll around it for a couple of hours, despite it being a slightly cold and cloudy day… I bought a Japanese [View Full Entry]

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Last night’s meal was lovely… the family that we went to see had invited their neighbours over to join us (as they are also keen to improve their English) and we must have talked for about 3 hours. Luckily, our host prepared a whole range of food so I tucked into the delicious home made burgers and had some potatoes and veg with them ... i steered well clear of the fish eggs, which absolutely stank! She has invited us over every Tuesday now so she can cook for us whilst we chat in English… suits me perfectly ! Yesterday, I [View Full Entry]

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School was all fun and games last week… mainly because about half of my classes were cancelled so I spent hours on the internet researching my trips to Kyoto and Tokyo! I have started dreading lunchtimes, though, as there is this really strange girl at school who acts like she’s seen a celebrity whenever she sees me… I mean she literally gets all giggly and hysterical and I sometimes think she’s so excited and overwhelmed that she might even cry - serious! She can’t speak a word of English and just repeats everything I say, followed by a nervous giggle! I&rsq [View Full Entry]

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On Friday night, Laura and I decided to cook for Gareth, James and Tom at their house and, as they don’t finish work until 9, we thought we’d head round early to make a start on it… they never lock their front door so it was easy to let ourselves in! The boys must have thought all their Christmases had come at once when they arrived home to find Laura and I waiting for them with some delicious food all laid out on the table! On Saturday, we set off for Fukuoka and met Mindy in Marinoa City shopping centre… we [View Full Entry]

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First off - Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year?! I had a really special time catching up with friends and family back home! I’m lucky to have even made it back to England at all really considering that I got onto the plane 10 minutes before it was due to take off! As I had to fly to Osaka from Fukuoka at 7am, that meant getting to Fukuoka airport by 5am… so once I had arrived at Osaka airport, it was about 9am and feeling like lunchtime so I happily tucked into a [View Full Entry]

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i cannot believe that i have just spent the last 4 months living in Japan… it feels like only yesterday that i arrived in Fukuoka airport and wandered around the city aimlessly, trying to figure out why I had decided to move to the other side of the world! but what a great 4 months they’ve been - i've experienced so many new things and visited so many wonderful places… i can’t wait to continue the adventure when I’m back in January! i had a lovely postcard and phone call from shinko today, who you may remember from my August blogs! [View Full Entry]

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Oh, you’re going to love this one… So on Sunday, I went to the charity Christmas party. I asked if I could help out in Santa’s grotto and talk to all the cute little kiddies dressed up in their best party outfits! But then, with about 20 seconds to go before the doors opened, I realised that there was no Santa in the grotto! I told one of the organisers, Daisuke, who then realised that the guy who was supposed to be Santa was actually playing carols with the band so he said “ummm, I think YOU’LL have to be Santa” [View Full Entry]

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*phew* i have blonde hair once again! yes, my trip to toni and guy was a success... and quite an experience! they were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the foreigner and as soon as i stepped out of the lift, they were all lined up by the front desk ready to greet me! the whole time, i had at least 2 people fussing over me, and they even went out and bought me an english magazine to read, as all the others were in japanese! then, they brought me a big cushion to rest my magazine on so i wouldn't have [View Full Entry]

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